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But now that I am a grand-dude to four wonderful grandchildren
‘We need to scramble a blimp,’ I told them. ‘How quickly can you get one to the Thames?’ With the world’s press assembled and the wheel lying limply on the South Bank lawn, our blimp hovered directly above, proudly displaying the legend ‘BA CAN’T GET IT UP’.
Rather than going for experience we wanted to recruit people who wouldn’t usually apply for airline jobs.
Firstly, the staff we’d hired had the Virgin spirit. You can never fake a genuine smile, and when I met them I could see their enthusiasm.
The Pistols’ manager, Malcolm McLaren, as he shouted ‘Fascist pigs’ at them. Given all of that, and my role as a thorn in the side of the establishment, it had never crossed my mind that twenty-three years later I might be knighted.
As for the £1 we paid them for our half a billion pounds’ worth of shares? Brian McBride framed the coin and put it on his office wall at T-Mobile.
‘It felt like watching a computer game,’ she told me, as we huddled together on the sofa. ‘It didn’t seem real.’ I thought once again how lucky I was to have my family. And how short and precious life can be.
I was in awe of how he had transformed his life from focusing upon Microsoft, a business that had changed the world, to looking at how to give back to others.
I began to learn more about his designs, including bizarre planes that looked more like doodles in a student’s notebook. They had odd names like the Long-EZm, the VariEze and the Quickie – branding wasn’t Burt’s strong point.
Who doesn't?! 🤗
He had felt the beginnings of what is known as the overview effect, a shift in awareness whereby astronauts realise just how fragile and precious life back on earth really is.
‘I really don’t think these people have done anything to deserve this,’ I said. ‘There must be a better way to occupy your life?’ I came to regret those words later, when he announced he was going to run for President!
Did not know about this incident....
‘The Elders represent an independent voice,’ they wrote, ‘not bound by the interests of any nation, government or institution. We are committed to promoting the shared interests of humanity, and the universal human rights we all share. We believe that in any conflict, it is important to listen to everyone – no matter how unpalatable or unpopular this may be. We aim to act boldly, speaking difficult truths and tackling taboos.’
Breaking the Taboo quickly amassed millions of views online and continues to stream on Netflix,
It remains to be seen what long-term damage the Trump administration will do to the environment, among other issues.
Had they really reverted back to the original ‘that fucker isn’t getting his logo on my trains’ bias?
I followed this. The outcome of the whole effort greatly increased my admiration for Virgin and Branson.
I must be the only person in history to go from launching a bank to calling for marijuana to be legalised in the time it takes to open a current account – or roll a joint.
Will Whitehorn found out years later that BA’s management learned of the discussions twenty-four hours after we had, and their lawyers were about to go to the CAA, too. A former board director at BA told Will: ‘You guys did the right thing.’ If ever a lesson had to be learned about the folly of even accidentally talking with your competitors, this was it.
Joan told me: ‘If you die, it’s your fault, and I won’t be coming to your funeral.’
Rather than Elon, Jeff and me being direct rivals, the reality is that we are all looking at the industry from slightly different angles and in different businesses.
As I recalled each of these incidents, my embarrassment increased. I was incredibly thankful – and lucky in this day and age – that none of my antics
had made it onto social media.
This story, in a nutshell, encapsulates the power of social media: a journey that started with a single tweet read on my iPad ended up making a tangible difference to people’s lives.
As the writer Lawrence Weschler said in The New New Journalism: ‘Human beings have glands that secrete all sorts of things. But the human mind secretes stories. We live narratives. That is the only way we know how to experience anything, and it is our glory.’
The whole point is to spark conversation and initiate debate. In fact, put down this book (for a moment!) and tweet me a question using #askrichard – I’ll try to answer it.
‘I genuinely can’t think of a new artist I want to hear,’ I told Joan. I was sounding like a stereotypical grumpy old man, and knew that something needed to change.
If I do get into a good non-fiction book, I can’t put it down and can become quite unsociable.
As a Monopoly player, the last thing I would ever part with is Necker. But even if I had to, I would somehow keep a right to camp on the beach.
but thankfully I had a Dr Muhammad Yunus quote stuck in my head: ‘All human beings are born as entrepreneurs. But unfortunately, many of us never had the opportunity to unwrap that part of our life, so it remains hidden.’
Viewing situations from afar is sometimes clearer than being on the front line. In the UK they couldn’t see the wood for the trees – with a bit of distance and perspective, which I had from Necker, I could see the wider picture.
There is a popular sentiment that if you haven’t made it in tech by the age of twenty-seven, it’s unlikely you’ll make it at all. The same used to be true in music, though, of course, many artists haven’t made it past the age of twenty-seven.
Pete was one of the first people in history to walk away from a supersonic accident. To be involved in an in-air vehicle break-up at those speeds and that height, and live to tell the tale, is nothing short of a miracle. He is a true survivor.
Some people are religious, some people are spiritual and some are neither. But a hug is something that everybody can appreciate.
It’s important in life to question one’s motives. Am I doing it for the right reasons, or for egotistical reasons? This book has helped me to reflect on that.
I know some people reading this book will disagree, but I think Barack Obama will go down as one of the greatest presidents of America.
